Human development and natural resources management at Chefchaouen

Plantations, reptiles, monkeys… and Abies Maroccane are some of the rare forms of life that still occupy a surface of 58 thousand hectares in the Moroccan region of Chefchaouen. The European Union and the Moroccan authorities are giving this wealthy but underprivileged area special attention.

Nadia Ben Sellam - Rabat, Eurojar

The heart of the national park of Talassemtane, in the province of Chefchaouen, still beats within some of the last specimens of Abies maroccana, commonly named Sapins du Maroc, a species at risk of becoming extinct, not only in the African continent, but also in the whole world. This is also the area where the Barbary macaque, known as Macaca Sylvanus, can still be found leaping freely between the trees, resting from time to time inside one of the plentiful caves spread all over the mountains. He is the last of his kind on the African continent.

With its remarkable natural wealth, the park of Talassemtane is home for various rare species mentioned and described in Moroccan scientific handbooks. Consequently, it is no accident if this region is being transformed to a natural reserve parc and designated by UNESCO as part of the Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve of the Mediterranean (IBRM). Its uniqueness and geographical proximity with to Europe (only 14 Km separate Morocco from Europe Spain) encouraged the European Union to fund rural development projects since the 90’s, in order to reduce poverty and enhance the economic growth of the area in a spirit of sustainable development, without endangering its natural resources, in a spirit of sustainable development. These projects are implemented within the framework of governmental rural development strategy drawn up for 2020, with the aim of promoting productive and touristic rural activities in Morocco.

Since 1996, Morocco has adopted a strategy for developing and classifying its natural spaces and classifying them because of their crucial role in bringing life into rural areas at both the social and economic levels. Thus, with the execution of the “Moroccan High Commission for Water, Forests and Combating Desertification” plan (2004), Morocco includes ten national reserves parks of 750 thousands hectares, among which is Talassemtane park, located in a blighted mountainous area of 58 thousand hectares. Classified among the 154 Sites of Biological and Ecological Interest, the park contains about 1034 hectares of protected areas. But, unfortunately, the forest cover is suffering from severe degradation, because of due to chaotic architecture, excessive exploitation of natural resources, and illegal cultivation of cannabis.



In this context, a project entitled “Participatory Development of forest areas of Chefchaouen Province” was implemented (1999-2008) thanks to funding provided by the European Union. 24 million Euros were allocated to renovate the park and install necessary infrastructure.

For the last few years, Chefchaouen inhabitants are proud of this new tourist area, whose challenges consist of “promoting rural tourism as a social and economic lever for that underprivileged region, on the basis of equilibrium between human development and sustainable management of natural resources; the Moroccan High Commission for Water and Forests and Combating Desertification is working on taking up this challenge”, says the park director, Issa Al-Moukaddem.

Touristic circuits
Multiple objectives are set within the framework of “MEDA Chefchaouen” project. The major one is to protect the park’s cultural and natural wealth and to strengthen local development for inhabitants through profitable activities. Setting up a welcome area for visitors, building an ecology museum at the entrance of the park, publishing a tourist guide, erecting descriptive signs… so many actions were thus undertaken within the renovation initiative of the reserve. An Internet website was also created, www.parctalassemtane.com, through which visitors are offered a splendid landscape of the area’s natural and cultural wealth. The website also provides detailed information about seven major tourist circuits available to be discovered by visitors. Furthermore, it offers the opportunity to visualize panoramic views; images of caverns, limestone mountaintops and sides, as well as “God’s Bridge”, a famous natural stone arch suspended 60 meters above the Oued Farda River.



Another achievement of the “MEDA Chefchaouen” projects was setting up a valuable database, which classifies all forest life within the park, including over 1380 types of flora, highlighting 11 main categories of trees, 26 kinds of extremely rare trees, in addition to 37 groups of mammals, 30 kinds of reptiles, and 104 types of birds, many of which are species on the brink of extinction.

For its part, local population benefited from multiple profitable activities, particularly in the field of apiculture, rabbit production, goat raising, cheese production and handcrafting. According to Abdelilah Tazi, vice-president of Talassemtane Association for Environment and Development, “the project allowed creating a rural center for women a rural center for women was created thanks to this project; 60 women and young girls are currently participating in its activities”. In fact, as a partner of the “MEDA Chefchaouen” project, the association contributed to the implementation of several other actions, in cooperation with local authorities, such as organizing training sessions for technicians, herders and forest workers. However, according to Abdelilah Tazi, the most groundbreaking initiative is the environmental education provided to youths: around 800 students from the province’s rural and urban schools were thus initiated to the park’s ecological characteristics as well as to the potential risks that may endanger its life, such as forest fire, deforestation, and the effects of climate changes.

N.B: Text translated from Arabic by Eurojar team

Refer to the project fact sheet: Joint development of forest and near-forest areas in Chefchaouen province (Morocco)